She was just a woman. That’s what Calisto wanted to tell himself; that’s what he wanted to believe. Emma was nothing more than a woman. There were other women for him to want. To obsess over.It couldn’t be Emma Sorrento.Not for Calisto.She was taken.She was claimed.She was not his.In a few days, Calisto would hand her off, and that would be that. He wondered why it wouldn’t be that easy to let her go. What good had saving her done?He had simply taken her from one monster to give her to another.

Emma Sorrento

Emma slid on her mask. All someone would need to do was look close enough to see what was really beneath the sheer falseness of her smile.At the other end of the table, Emma found her lies staring her right in the face.He smirked.And winked.Calisto Donati was her worst mistake, her greatest shame, and the one thing she still wanted more than anything. Emma could still feel him all over her, long after his touch and kiss was gone. In thirty days, her entire world had changed—he had changed her.Emma had a feeling that if she played another game with Calisto, she would surely lose.She had already lost once.Wasn’t it enough?

WARNING: The first two books in the Donati Bloodlines Trilogy end on a cliffhanger, and are not considered safe romance.

“Duty” was the first word a Mafioso principessa learned growing up. Be good to the family. Bring them no shame. Smile for the crowd.

And when the time comes, do your duty.

At only twenty, Emma Sorrento was not ready to do hers.

“You look wonderful, Emmy,” Maximo said.

Somehow, Emma managed a smile for her uncle. “Thank you.”

Maximo waved her closer. Emma followed his unspoken demand until she was standing in front of him with her hands clasped behind her back. Maximo looked over the silver, flared dress that fell just above Emma’s knees, and the black pumps on her feet.

“Your hair is down,” Maximo said.

“You asked for it to be like this, zio.”

“I did. I like it better this way. I’m sure Affonso will appreciate it as well. And your mother made sure you toned down the red lipstick, I see.”

“Sì.” Emma swallowed back the disgust rising in her throat. It burned like bile on her tongue, acidic and full of shame.

“Smile, Emma. That frown does nothing for your pretty face.”

Her uncle’s words had been spoken lightly, as if he were amused, but a heavy ring of warning lingered right behind them. Immediately, Emma fixed her frown to a smile.

Fake and bright.

Enough to distract a man.

She could do this.

Right?

“She’s a little nervous,” came a voice from behind her. “It’s a big day for our little Emma.”

Emma found her father, George, leaning in the doorway with a cigar dangling from his fingertips and a glass of brandy in his other hand.

Maximo chuckled. “How much of a fight did she put up this morning, brother?” A single finger ticked under Emma’s chin, making her stare up at her uncle’s face. “What is there to fight about, hmm?”

“Nothing,” Emma said.

“Surprisingly, very little,” George said.

Maximo smiled. The sight was almost predatory in nature. Her uncle had always treated her well, especially considering that she was the only daughter in their small family. George had no other children but Emma, and the other Sorrento brother had died in a childhood accident when he rode a bicycle out onto the street and was hit by a car.

The Sorrento family was one of many Italian-based organized crime families in Vegas. Over the years, the Sorrentos and other syndicates across the country strengthened their ties by mixing their names and blood. In Cosa Nostra, girls were fodder to a bigger plan. That plan being a man, the one with the best last name for a contract, the family to push them higher, make them safer, or earn them business.

Because that’s all her life was worth.

Emma knew this day was coming.

“It’s just business,” Maximo said as if he could read Emma’s mind.

“Business,” she echoed.

#CALISTODONATI

#EMMASORRENTO

Bethany-Kris is a Canadian author, lover of much, and mother to three young sons, one cat, and two dogs. A small town in Eastern Canada where she was born and raised is where she has always called home. With her boys under her feet, snuggling cat, barking dogs, and a hubby calling over his shoulder, she is nearly always writing something … when she can find the time.

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